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Honey Cake with Raspberry Jam and Basil Simple Syrup

Honey Cake with Raspberry Jam and Basil Simple Syrup

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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Cool Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

Honey Cake
  • ½ cup milk (I use vanilla unsweetened almond milk)
  • ½ tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup butter, room temperature
  • 1 ½ cup honey
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tbsp vanilla extract
  • 3 tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 ¼ cup gluten free all purpose flour (I use Bob's Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free)
  • 1 tbsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp salt
Raspberry Jam
  • 3 cups raspberries (can use fresh or frozen)
  • 2 tsp water
  • pinch salt
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
Basil Simple Syrup
  • 2 cups basil, fresh
  • ¼ cup water
  • ¼ cup white granulated sugar
Buttercream Frosting
  • ½ cup butter, room temperature
  • 3 cups powdered sugar
  • 3 tbsp milk
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch salt

Equipment

  • 2 6 inch round Cake Pans
  • Stand Mixer or Hand Mixer

Method
 

Honey Cake
  1. Allow your butter and eggs to come to room temperature.
  2. Preheat your oven to 350℉ and line 2 nonstick 6 inch cake pans with parchment rounds on the bottom.
  3. Combine the milk and apple cider vinegar and set aside.
  4. In a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the room temperature butter and honey. Mix until combined.
  5. Add in the eggs, vanilla, avocado oil and milk/apple cider vinegar mixture and mix until fully incorporated.
  6. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, then mix it into the wet ingredients until smooth and combined.
  7. Pour equal amounts of batter into the 2 cake pans and bake for 50 minutes-1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean (every oven is a little different!). While the cakes bake, prepare the jam, syrup and buttercream.
  8. Once done, allow the cakes to rest for 10 minutes in their pans, then remove them to completely cool. If the tops raised a little, you can allow them to rest on a cooling rack upside down which will flatten them!
  9. Once cool, evenly slice both cake layers in half horizontally for thinner layers. Then, paint the top and bottom of each layer with the basil simple syrup.
  10. From there, you'll assemble the cake layers! You can do this however you'd like, but this is how I do it! Have fun with it! Start with your first layer and spread a thin layer of buttercream overtop. Then, with some frosting in a piping bag, pipe a circle of frosting on the outside edge of the circle to create a barrier for the jam. Then, spoon in ⅓ of the jam into the center on the frosting ring and spread into an each layer. Top with your second layer of cake and repeat until the top layer.
  11. Once you place the top layer of cake on top, you can decorate it however you'd like! I like to coat mine in the rest of the buttercream for an imperfect, rustic look and garnish with fresh raspberries and raspberry clippings from my garden!
Raspberry Jam
  1. Add raspberries and water to a pot and place it on the stove over medium/high heat, bringing it to a boil.
  2. While it boils just slightly, mash the raspberries into the water.
  3. Add in the honey and a pinch of salt and allow it to simmer while continuing to mash together the ingredients.
  4. Continue mixing until the mixture is thick, then remove it from the heat and allow the jam to fully cool. Once cool, stir in the vanilla.
Basil Simple Syrup
  1. Add water and sugar to a sauce pan and put on the stove over medium to low heat.
  2. Bring to a simmer for about 3-5 minutes while stirring, ensuring it doesn't burn. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn off the heat and add in the basil. While it steeps, I like to use a wooden spatula to smash the basil into the syrup and release more of that basil flavor.
  3. Allow syrup to cool to the touch, then strain the basil out.
Buttercream Frosting
  1. Whip room temperature butter on medium speed until creamy and smooth.
  2. Add the salt and powdered sugar, one cup at a time, thoroughly mixing in the powdered sugar with each addition.
  3. Pour in the milk 1 tbsp at a time and whip for 20-30 seconds each time. Add the vanilla extract and mix on medium-high until fully mixed and thick.